Tom, I am not a syrup producer but am a forester that assisted producers quite a bit with the health of their sugar bushes. Edgar suggested that cooking time/temperature is at play with the color produced and I have no reason to doubt it. However, I think it is a bit more complex than that. Trees store their energy reserves in the root system as starches. In the spring the starch is converted to simple sugars and pumped to the tree crown in preparation for the growing season ahead. The makeup of those sugars changes with time so that their makeup by budding time is considerably different that at first flow. How that relates to color of syrup produced I do not know. You would have to consult a plant physiologist for a more in-depth explanation.
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